59th Annual Grammy Awards – Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra

59th Annual Grammy Awards

Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra

"Make America Great Again!"

Large Ensemble Album

Best Engineered Album Non-Classical Music

Song of the Year

" Delfeayo is, in many ways, the most fun of the Marsalises. He's the family trombonist. And record producer. And he seems to be the family wise guy too." — Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News

Delfeayo Marsalis © Keith Major

Under the direction of NEA Jazz Master Delfeayo Marsalis, the Uptown Jazz Orchestra adds some home-cooked seasoning to original material and jazz classics that pay homage to America’s great cultural traditions—blues, swing, groove and good old-fashioned Southern hospitality. Founded in 2008, UJO performs weekly in New Orleans and is known to play mostly by ear in addition to creating original songs spontaneously! One such composition, Make America Great Again! is the title of UJO's first cd. Marsalis and his rollicking big band take back that tarnished slogan and run it up the flagpole of great American music, tracing its sounds from its African roots through the streets of New Orleans to the country as a whole.


Despite the serious themes, Make America Great Again! is anything but heavy, offering a wonderfully upbeat and spirited collection of songs determined to make listeners move even as it asks them to think. As Marsalis says, “People have told me, ‘You play feel-good music,’ and I say, ‘Why would we play anything else?’ Don’t come check out the Uptown Jazz Orchestra if you feel like being depressed. We’re all about having a spiritual connection and understanding that we’re here to make the world a better place.”